Qatar to see 500 projects award in ten years

Around 500 projects related to infrastructure development are expected to be announced in Qatar over the next ten years, national daily The Peninsula reported.

Over US$60bn in infrastructure projects are to be discussed at Qatar Projects 2013, the 2-day conference opening on Monday under the patronage of Dr Mohammed bin Salah al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director at Qatar Petroleum.

An estimated US$15bn per year is going to be spent by Qatar over the next five years to develop infrastructure projects such as stadiums, a metro and national rail network, roads and more than doubling the number of hotel rooms in the country.

“Qatar Rail will need an amount of steel equivalent to a quantity from which about 200 Eiffel towers can be built. And the amount of excavation material generated from the tunnels will be capable of building seven pyramids of Egypt,” said Ahmed Nassar Al Kowsi, logistics director, Qatar Rail.

Excavation work for the underground rail lines is expected to start by the end of 2013 and over 20,000 workers are expected to work daily till 2016, according to Al Kowsi.